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Alexander Rooksmoor

@arcrooksmoor.bsky.social

690 followers 1.1K following 2.8K posts

Author: 55 'what if?' history; historical crime; fantasy & steampunk books available on Amazon & some published by SeaLionPress too. See also: https://rooksmoor.blogspot.com/

rooksmoor.blogspot.com

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Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · Sep 11

For my latest novel I have gone back into the Magic Realism genre. 'The Obscured' is set among the community of the Obscured in contemporary UK and Pakistan. It was influenced by Christopher Priest's 'The Glamour', but seeking to explore the challenges for such people facing 2020s technology.

Book cover for 'The Obscured. A Magic Realism Novel', showing a woman looking into a mirror but instead of her own reflection only see the chair and bookcase behind her. The image is surrounded by words in Farsi.

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Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

This sounds so much like how some people spoke and behaved during Stalin's purges.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

It is amazing what 'laws' teachers cling to and constantly disseminate. In Year 8 we were told we could not use any direct speech only reported speech in what we wrote, and this from a teacher who thought the Battle of Waterloo was fought where the London railway station is located.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

Now have the image of him rolling on the floor and the line:
'They say we were an item, my thoughts, I try and hide them'

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

I had it described as 'pain of chocolate' by a shop assistant this week, with 'pain' said the English way. I did wonder if they were allergic to chocolate so this was an accurate description. Then I thought I was just being foolishly snobby, after all, I got what I was seeking.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hX...

The Zombies - She's Not There

YouTube video by nothinking4meman

www.youtube.com

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

Some of us work weekends. However, I have a new book, 'The Terracotta Dog' by Andrea Camilleri to read on my breaks. I was given a lot of Camilleri's books by my mother, so I am religiously working through them.

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Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 22h

Yes, apparently she rang him up and said she received it in his honour. He said he did not ask her to give it to him, but feels he should have done. The man has no shame.

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Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I think it would be an apt time for Paul McCartney to re-release this, 'We All Stand Together':
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PMi...

The Frog Chorus & Paul McCartney - We All Stand Together

YouTube video by Zig Zag

www.youtube.com

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Lovely weather up here today, 17°C and sunny; great golden light.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I think people will soon be perceiving the Reagan and Bush eras as precursors to what is now going on.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Images of the Doges of Venice on the wall in the Great Council Room in Venice with the face of Doge Marin Falier erased as he was deemed to have betrayed the city-state.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Tesco is currently selling large hourglasses which were perfect for my wife's grim reaper costume, though she had to make her own holder to avoid dropping the hourglass on the floor and it smashing.

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Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

So is AI then the equivalent of abandoning reusable glass milk bottles for disposable plastic ones from the supermarket?

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I only discovered that fact today!

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Giant spider on the back of character Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen, in the 'Doctor Who' story, 'Planet of the Spiders', broadcast May-June 1974.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

'Do not despise the snake for having no horns, for who is to say that it will not become a dragon. So may one just man become an army.'

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

It is always a toss up between 'The Flashing Blade' and 'The Water Margin', you can imagine what toxic male fantasies I grew up holding to!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KYW...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLWe...

The Flashing Blade - Full Theme (Ceefax Twin Video Edit)

YouTube video by Ceefax Twin

www.youtube.com

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I certainly do not consider 'One Piece At A Time' to be either Country or Western.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Wow, this is not one I encountered, but it would be good to get a copy on my second-hand bookstall for the upcoming Halloween market.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I saw yesterday 'The Guardian' contemplating how he would react to losing. I do worry both for Venezuela and Norway.

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Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting that they picked on the Mensheviks rather than the more commonly referred to Bolsheviks.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you for reminding me of this. I so loved it at the time. I had the soundtrack on cassette and I read an English language version of the novel too.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I realised I had jumped to thinking 'Non-English language film' whereas in fact all British-made movies would have qualified!

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

'Rififi'.

Alexander Rooksmoor @arcrooksmoor.bsky.social · 1d

I always wondered if the food the three heads consume all goes into a single stomach or if they each have separate digestive tracts.